The 5: Best Power Ballads of the 80’s

Some lists are merely lists. Others are sacred and priceless, like this one.  Welcome to the next installment of The 5, and this one is quite near and dear to our hearts.  We will examine the sensitive side of rock, the softer part of every rocker, the part of every bad boy that only his wild woman gets to see: the Power Ballad.  

Having to narrow it down to only 5 selections is like trying to pick your favorite appendage.  You love them all for different reasons.  But just like you sometimes have to cut off one of your limbs, so too did I have to cut away some that just did not make the…cut.  Sorry.  So honorable mentions go to: Scorpions, Wind of Change (political power ballad), Tesla, Love Song (”you’ll be ok, baby” power ballad),Def Leppard,  Love Bites (”lovin’ you is a painful thing” power ballad), and Whitesnake,  Is This Love (”what is this crazy thing I’m feeling” power ballad).  

So here, with an acoustic build up and electric finish, is the list, in descending order.

5.  Poison, Every Rose Has its Thorn:  a forlorn tale of love gone sour.  Bret Michaels fills us in on how he and his girl have drifted apart, and CC Deville drives the nail deeper into his heart with his piercing solo.  I wish I could have told Bret back in 1988 “Don’t worry, man. In about 20 years you’ll have your own tv show and 20 skanks to keep you company and make you feel better”.

4.  Heaven, Warrant: ah, the bittersweet memories of days gone by. Jani Lane takes a stroll down memory…lane (dang it, I did it again) and knows it will all be ok as long as he has his girl.  Quite the clever double meaning, as this can also be interpreted as a love letter to the fans. But then, any band that would later pen a song called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” definitely had some brains.

3.  Skid Row, I Remember You: even when you’re a sleazy, fight picking group of rambunctious hoodlums, you still have that one girl that you still think about, especially when it’s raining.  Sebastian Bach and company reminisce about that girl that got away, which my world weary, tattered and torn 8th grade heart could definitely relate too.  Just one question: if the chorus says “remember yesterday, walking hand in hand, love letters in the sand, I remember you”, why does the girl not remember? If it was just yesterday, does she have some sort of short term memory problem? Much like an onion, every time you peel away a layer of this song, another layer is exposed. 

2.  Bon Jovi, Wanted Dead or Alive: the ultimate “life on the road” song.  The rocker as gunslinger motif adequately captures life as a late 80’s musician (even if it was imagined by Ratt in “Wanted Man” first).  I’m not quite sure what crimes he is wanted for (too much aquanet usage? flying in concert without a permit?) but I’m glad he risked his life in order bring us the rock.  All I know is that is impossible not to throw your fist in the air when you hear the line “I’ve seen a million faces, and I’ve rocked them”. 

1. Motley Crue, Home Sweet Home: The power ballad to end all power ballads. Sensitive piano intro and outro; soaring chorus, epic guitar solo. All the parts are there.  And everyone gets tired of being away from home. Especially after covering your body with tattoos, injecting heroin, and shouting at the devil, like the boys from the Crue (sorry, my keyboard is fresh out of umlauts).  This is 100%, Grade A, Pure Power Balladry.  Nothing but the best.